


Like a Phoenix, Reborn from the Ashes

by lemonsandstrawberries



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Happy Ending, High School, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Language, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sexual Abuse, not graphic but hinted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24776062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonsandstrawberries/pseuds/lemonsandstrawberries
Summary: Tony Stark got himself in a relationship with Tiberius Stone, and with time it turns out that Tiberius is no Prince Charming, to put it mildly. What's worse, Tony doesn't see a way out of the abusive relationship and lost the will to fight for himself. And then, someone comes to the rescue.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Tiberius Stone
Comments: 8
Kudos: 155





	Like a Phoenix, Reborn from the Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> okaaaay * _rubs temples_ * I was thinking for the longest time when to post this, and decided that there is no good date to post a fic about high school abuse and bullying (maybe except the beginning of the school year), so I might as well post it now. was written as a request for someone who went through bullying and asked me to write a fic about it with a happy ending, a loong time ago. I dedicate this fic to all people who experienced bullying and abuse in any form, you all deserve better and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. please read the tags to know what to expect!

Just get to the class. Get to the class and don't look back. He would be safe there.

"Hi there."

The door of his locker was slammed with a loud bang, as soon as he managed to get his books out. Dammit. Too slow. He held back a shudder when an arm wrapped around his shoulders, hot breath on his face.

"Are you avoiding me, Tony?"

Tony already felt sick. He didn't want to make it worse and shook his head.

"N-no. Just in a hurry to class," he said, wanting to be left alone. Just please leave him alone. 

"I am gonna walk you there," Tiberius Stone, a buff and handsome senior from a rich family, offered charmingly taking the books out of Tony's hands. "After all, this is my duty as your boyfriend, right?" he smiled in a way that could be seen as loving, pulling the smaller teen closer to himself and Tony had to try hard to not let the fear show on his face. Why Stone couldn't just leave him alone? 

"Take it," Tiberius barked, handing Tony's book to one of his henchmen. Justin Hammer, seemingly Tiberius best friend, also rich, also handsome, but not as openly cruel as Tiberius, as he was more of a plotting type, took the books, his face showing how much he didn't want to, but wouldn't want to get on Stone's bad side. Without a word, he handed the books to the third person in their group, Aldrich Killian, a guy in big glasses and with weirdly curling hair that used to follow Stone and Hammer like a puppy. He was content with the role of a footrest as long as he could be in the presence of stronger people. 

"Move," this time Tiberius addressed Tony, pushing him roughly forward. Not having a choice, Tony lowered his head and walked. Just last until the end of this year. Then Stone would go to college and he would be free. Just a few more months.

There was a person who closely observed the whole situation. He kept looking at the group passing him, Stone with his nose stuck up high in the air, Hammer with his aura of thinking that he was above everyone else, and Aldrich trotting after them obediently. And then Tony. A medium height, dark-haired teen, curled and clearly frightened, but with some anger shining in his eyes, anger he couldn't afford to let take control over him. He didn't fit into this picture. 

"Stop staring."

Steve's shoulders jumped after hearing the voice. He looked at Bucky, full name James Barnes, his best friend, standing near his locker and getting out of the books needed for today's classes.

"This is wrong, Buck," Steve said, not liking what he was seeing. Someone should do something about this.

"Maybe, but it isn't our concern. And from what I heard, Stark is no saint either. They deserve each other," Bucky said, closing his locker. 

Steve tightened his jaws out of frustration. There were plenty of rumors surrounding the seemingly hottest couple in high school. Both Stark and Stone were handsome, incredibly smart, and came from wealthy families. They seemed like a match made in heaven. 

Steve was no expert on relationships. He never was in love, but he could tell that there were no warm feelings between the couple. And looking at today's encounter, there was something more happening… Something really, really bad.

***

Except for the terrible morning, Tony had a pretty good day. He aced another assignment, no surprise here, managed to eat lunch in peace with Tiberius, and his henchmen disappearing somewhere. He just needed to get home safely. When the last bell rang, Tony hurriedly left the class, hoping that it was a good sign that Tiberius wasn't present during lunch break and maybe he could have some peaceful afternoon.

"Who said you can go?!" a growl, a hand yanking on the back of his shirt and dragging him off behind the school building as soon as he stepped outside. The air was temporarily knocked out of Tony, when the neckline pinned into his throat, making him gasp and struggle. No one cared. No one noticed, everyone rushing to get home and forget about school until tomorrow.

One person noticed…

***

"You are being a little cold towards me lately, Tony," Tiberius seethed, cupping Tony's jaw with one hand and forcing bruising kisses on his lips. There was laughter ringing in Tony's ear, undoubtedly Aldrich and Hammer enjoying the show. "Do I need to fix your attitude, again?" he asked, not liking the way Tony was looking at him. Angry and disgusted. Maybe at school he had to hold back, but in the dark space under the bleachers, he could show his true feelings. "Answer me!"

Tony's vision got black for a second when a painful and strong punch was aimed at his stomach. He doubled over, and Tiberius stepped away, letting Tony fall on his knees and into the mud, clutching his stomach. 

"Dirty whore," Stone commented and there was a disgusting laugh coming from two other seniors. "Time to put you back in your place. Killian! Hold his hands!"

Tony didn't react on time, feeling both of his hands being sharply twisted to the back. He screamed in pain and tears shone in his eyes. 

"Keep your mouth opened," Tiberius said, and Tony dropped his head, feeling desperate and hopeless. No, he didn't want this. Stop. A hand wrapped in his hair and yanked his head up roughly, and Tony whimpered in pain, tears rolling down his cheeks. Tiberius smiled cruelly, enjoying the sight of the other teen on his knees. "Anything you want to tell me?" he asked, giving Tony the last chance for an apology, and maybe, maybe he would go easy on him.

It was petty, Tony knew it was and that it won't change anything. "Fuck you," he ground out, his voice breaking with a sob, but eyes giving away his true feelings. There was so much anger in the brown eyes, a blazing flame, mixing with contempt, showing in the way Tony’s mouth twisted. Maybe once, there was something good between him and Stone, but it was all fake. Just a sugar coating, hiding what a rotten person Stone really was.

Tiberius just smiled in a more wicked way, enjoying the show. "Maybe later. And maybe this time I will give you to Hammer to play with. I recall he had a good time with you. Right, Hammer?"

There was no answer, but a surprised scream of pain. Stone whipped around and was shocked himself when a fist collided with his face and the pain and impact made him stagger.

"Let him go," someone ordered in a harsh voice. 

"Scram!" another voice.

When Tiberius opened his eyes he saw two guys, people he didn't pay attention to earlier, but knew that attended the same school. They were juniors, like Tony, and members of the football team and if he wasn't wrong, the blond one was the captain. He noticed that Tony was free, on all fours in the mud, and escaping Killian. Coward. He would pay for this. 

They would pay for this. Stone turned to the blond, still seeing a fist raised in his direction, while the brunet teenager had Hammer in the same position. "This isn't your business, get out of here!" he yelled out, curling his fists and throwing a punch at the blond. In a second, he was knocked out, landing in the mud, blinded by another punch. 

"Leave now," the blond advised, his stance showing that he won't hesitate to deliver another hit if Stone would try to stand up.

Tiberius looked at Hammer and saw that the brunet teen still had him cornered. Hammer was no fighter. Tiberius was outnumbered. He looked at Tony, still in the mud. It wasn't worth it. He scrambled up and started running, Hammer soon following.

"I guess you were right, Steve," the brunet said, shaking his fist after the punch that would leave a nice black eye on Hammer's face. 

"Thanks for coming with me, Buck," Steve smiled. He knew that Bucky didn't share his point of view, but was grateful for the company. If he was alone, it wouldn't go so smoothly. "Hey, you okay?" Steve asked, crouching down in front of the teen in the mud.

"Why did you do that?" Tony ground out, his voice coming out wet and heavy.

"What do you mean why-"

"This isn't your business!" Tony yelled, sounding in pain. 

"Hey, we just saved your ass, be a little grateful-" Bucky yelled back and Tony lifted his head up, his face set in anger and tears on his cheeks. 

"I didn't ask for your help!" Tony yelled more, almost falling back into the mud. He felt so overwhelmed. He didn't want anyone to get into trouble because of him. He was fine with suffering alone.

Steve looked with sad eyes at the dark-haired teen sobbing, his clothes getting soaked from the wet ground. It was a miserable picture. "Let's go," Steve decided, hooking his arms with Tony's and pulling him up on his feet. To his surprise, Tony didn't struggle, didn't say a word, just kept quietly crying, not having any strength left. 

"My house is the closest, let's go there," Bucky offered, seemingly placated by Tony's lack of hostility. Steve nodded and started walking, guiding Tony.

***

Dark bruises on his ribs and around hips. A bite mark near the waistline. Scratched shoulders and arms.

Steve curled his fists out of frustration as he watched Tony changing into dry clothes lend by Bucky. It seemed that Tony's school life wasn't as dreamy as everyone thought.

"For how long it's been going on?" Steve asked quietly.

Tony turned to him, Bucky's too big shirt hanging on him. His face was cleaned with soap and water, but there was some redness left in his eyes, Tony could blame on the suds getting into his eyes, but Steve knew better. Tony shrugged, looking away. "For long."

Steve drew his eyebrows together. Tiberius got transferred to their school at the beginning of this year. That's how long. "Tony, you have to tell someone-"

"No," Tony said firmly, keeping his eyes focused on the floor. He couldn't.

"You can't let that keep happening! One day, they will really hurt you and-"

"I can't tell anyone, because my family depends on it!" Tony yelled back, pressing fists against his eyes to stop a wave of crying. Steve was taken aback by that. 

"What do you mean your family…?"

And so Tony told Steve something he never said to anyone. Tony was from a business family, just like Stone was, everyone knew that. What was a secret, was that Stark Industries and Viastone planned to merge into one company to take over the market and wipe out any other competitors. His dad was about to sign a contract with the owner of Viastone, Stone's dad, and Tony had to do everything to keep good relations with Tiberius, otherwise, the deal might not happen and that would leave his family in trouble. And at the beginning, Tiberius wasn't so bad. Tony wouldn't say that he loved him, heck, he wasn't sure if he even liked him, but he was sweet and attentive and maybe with time Tony would learn to love him - until he turned manipulative and aggressive. And Tony didn't know how to end this to not jeopardize his family's company, so he suffered in silence, waiting for the day Tiberius would go off to college and their 'relationship' could break because of the long distance. He thought he had everything figured out, but then Steve had to interfere. 

"Stone is cruel and manipulative and influential," Tony continued his story in an emotionless voice. "I didn't want to drag anyone else into this. And now," Tony raised his head, locking his eyes with Steve's, "he might go after you."

"I am not afraid of him," Steve said quickly.

"You should be," Tony said back, sounding and looking in pain. Steve didn't have to ask to know that Tony was afraid. He was afraid for his family. Afraid how far Stone would go. Steve couldn't let that continue. He wouldn't allow that kind of harassment right under his nose.

"Hey, guys!" Bucky called from downstairs and Tony jumped nervously, wary of loud noises. Was it one more thing, Stone made him afraid of? "Pizza straight from the oven! Frozen. But I put extra cheese on it, should be good!"

Steve made his decision.

"You have a private chauffeur who drives you to school, right?" he asked Tony, and the brunet confirmed with a nod. The chauffeur didn't pick him up after school, as it was well known that Tony spent afternoons with his 'boyfriend'. Steve felt sick just from thinking about this. "After the last lesson wait for me in your class. If I won't be able to make it for some reason, Bucky will come for you. Never leave school alone."

Tony didn't say anything, just lowered his head. He could feel that Steve was genuinely worried about him and it wasn't some act. Just why?

"Why are you doing this?" Tony asked in a timid whisper.

"I don't like bullies," Steve replied immediately. Tony curled in himself, hoping for a different answer, but it was a stupid, naive thought to start with.

"Right," Tony said flatly.

"Come on, let's go eat," Steve decided, smelling the pizza and feeling hungry. He let Tony go first and followed him. He was honest, and he really didn't like bullies. It was one of the reasons. The second reason was, that he liked the teen in front of him a whole lot more than he would like to admit to.

***

The upcoming days at school were not calm. It all started the next morning, when Tony was getting out his books, when a red-faced Bucky jumped to him, looking frantic.

"Tony!" Bucky called, and Tony raised his eyebrow, not realizing that they became so close since yesterday. "Steve's - Steve's in trouble!" he managed to get out between gasps for air.

Tony felt a cold shudder crawling up his spine. Did Stone already get to him?

"He is in the director's office - with Stone - they got into a fight - as soon as Steve came - he was waiting for him - we have to go!" Bucky decided, taking Tony's wrist and pulling. 

"Wait, what do you want me to do?!" Tony asked, stumbling after Bucky.

"Tell the director what happened! Steve won't say a thing, I know he won't, and Stone would just slide his way out of this one-"

Tony dug his heels into the floor, stopping them both. "I can't!" he yelled, his voice already trembling. He can't. No one can know.

"Steve will get expelled if you don't!"

Tony started to shiver, his blood turning cold. He can't. And he never asked Steve for help. Steve got himself into this mess and he needed to find a solution on his own too. It had nothing to do with Tony. It wasn't Tony's concern. He won't go. He wrestled his arm out of Bucky's hold and started to run.

"Tony!"

Tony was running straight into the director's office having a very painful story to tell.

***

Tony didn't remember the last time when he was so afraid. He wasn't so afraid, even when Tiberius once had brought a knife to one of their 'dates', much to Killian’s and Hammer’s amusement and Tony’s terror, threatening to carve his initials on Tony’s skin, just to leave a reminder of who he belonged to. Just one of the many stories Tony had to share when it came to his ‘boyfriend’.

It was an eventful day for the director. Parents were walking in and out, together with their children. Tony's mom was crying, seeing her son's bruises, and not understanding how she didn't notice anything earlier. Tony's dad was fuming, breaking the deal off with Viastone, no matter how much negotiating and diplomacy Stone's father tried to use, the contract was out of the question. And Tony was in the middle of all that, forced to say his story, again and again, missing classes and after talking with the school's psychiatrist getting a week off for self-care, and it was the minimum Tony's dad demanded before suing the school for neglect. In the end, Stone and Hammer were expelled, Killian was suspended, and Steve was told to not fight and let go, without the incident going into his permanent record. 

Since that day, the school was buzzing with gossips and everyone was making their way to Steve, trying to urge him to talk. Steve remained silent, replying to many questions in the simplest way, never going into details. Days were passing and Steve was worried, not hearing anything from Tony and not daring to make his way into the Stark mansion. Maybe Tony wanted to forget about it all, and Steve was a part of that sorry chapter in his life. Maybe forgetting about him too was a part of the healing process. Steve could understand and hoped for Tony to find peace, but he still felt a sting in his heart.

"Hey."

"Tony!" Steve gasped when many days later he saw the brunet at the school gate. With a relief, Steve noticed that Tony looked much better. He wasn't slouching and his face had a healthy color and there was some beginning of sparkle in his eyes, something Steve didn't see before. "What are you doing here?" he asked, trotting to the teen.

"Came to see you," Tony smiled and Steve's heart almost melted. He never before saw Tony smiling and it was some gorgeous smile. "Walk with me?" Tony asked, pointing a direction with his head. They couldn't stay near school as other kids were already recognizing him and the whispering started. Steve followed.

***

"How's the family business?"

"It is alright," Tony smiled, sitting on a swing in a playground in the nearby park, Steve next to him as they both were swaying gently. "For a moment it was rough, but dad started to finally listen to me and I shared with him some of my ideas. I think we will be okay," he said, trying to not sound too proud.

"That's great news," Steve smiled back, knowing that Tony was one of the best students and if someone was able to save the family business and look for new solutions, it was only Tony. "You are one of the top three students at school, right?" he said, teasing the teen just a little bit.

"Ha, I am the top with Stone and Hammer gone," Tony laughed, swinging a bit harder and Steve's mouth open as he didn't expect to hear Tony say his oppressors' names any time soon. "Part of the therapy. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

Steve nodded because it did sound reasonable. Then the quote seemed oddly familiar… "Wait, isn't that from _Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone_?"

"Yeah," Tony laughed cheerfully, "I have been catching up on movies between appointments."

Steve watched Tony with soft eyes. It was good to see him so happy and relaxed.

"I wanted to thank you."

"Me?" Steve asked. Sometimes he felt that he should be the one thanking Tony. After all, if it wasn't for Tony's confession, Steve would be kicked out of school and he knew how much it had to cost him. Even his record remained spotless, and Steve knew that it was solely thanks to Tony and his dad, who was set on protecting the teen who saved his son from further abuse.

"Yhm. You stood out for me when no one else did. All this time, Stone made me feel like if I wasn't worth anything and I was not worth saving. And then you came and… I guess that seeing you being able to sacrifice so much for me while practically not knowing me, gave me the strength to believe that if I can be worth something to you, maybe I am not so useless," Tony said, smiling sadly and looking at his shoes.

"You are not worthless, Tony," Steve quickly said, and hearing that Tony thought about himself like that, was already painful.

"Now I know this!" Tony announced happily and Steve smiled back, hearing genuineness in the voice tone. Tony was recovering remarkably.

"I guess you will be switching schools now?" Steve asked sadly. He would understand if the traumatic events would make him want to leave, but Steve would still miss him. 

"No," Tony smiled broadly and Steve gaped at him. "I decided to stay. I want to show everyone that you can recover from being bullied and that is worth it to stand up for yourself. If I can do it, everyone else can too. I am gonna be like a phoenix, reborn from the ashes!"

"That's great, Tony," Steve smiled, feeling something warm in his chest. "I am proud of you," he said, not thinking that he might be crossing some line here. 

"Thanks," Tony said, grinning, "someone gave me the courage."

After that, they didn't say anything more and kept gently rocking on the swings. Steve knew that Tony's heart was broken and he needed time before he could invite anyone else in his world. Steve decided to be patient. Tony was worth the wait.


End file.
